Long time military aviation fan here, and if I told you this was "normal" not sure anyone would believe me because the word F35 is attached to it. rgmerk alread

Long time military aviation fan here, and if I told you this was "normal" not sure anyone would believe me because the word F35 is attached to it. rgmerk already mentioned my favorite example; I was going to specifically mention the Foxbat! It could totally "fly at mach 3" but the engines were going to need a rebuild above mach 2 for operationally significant timeframes and were pretty much trashed above mach ~2.4 (I need a source, I'll get one later). Famously, or maybe notoriously, the TF30s powering the original F-14 Tomcat were... well a threat unto itself to the aircraft. Tons of speciality parts, out of this world fuel consumption rates, prone to compressor stalls (RIP Goose), and many other problems that lead to their replacement. I have a secondary theory, and this is a conspiracy theory probably better suited for reddit then HN: There is an intentional, calculated, and widespread disinformation campaign about the F35. Why do I think this? Well 5th generation fighters are probably as good as it's going to get. All technology eventually becomes commodity, and making sure other "near-peer adversaries" aren't in a hurry is probably a good thing. Once quantum radar and energy weapons arrive, the cat is really, really out of the bag. Stalling this deadline far into the future seems like a worthwhile goal.